Mackay tradie sentenced for indecent treatment of 12yo niece

A Qld tradie who preyed on a 12-year-old girl claims he doesn’t need rehab because he no longer has “those desires” thanks to God.

A man has learned his fate in court after a sickening act on a 12-year-old child.

A Mackay tradie who snuck into his 12-year-old niece’s room with “perverted thoughts and wrong intentions” has denied the need for rehabilitation because “God set me free”.

Mackay District Court heard the young girl had been sleeping at the 29-year-old’s house at the time with a school friend when she walked in on him masturbating in the bathroom.

After making quick eye contact, the girl retreated back to her room and was followed a little later by him.

In what was described by Prosecutor Aldas Rana as his bid to “successfully fulfil his desires”, the man sat by the girl’s bed and masturbated while touching her lower back.

In her submissions, Ms Rana said that the man attempted to shift the blame onto the child right after admitting he was “making a move” by saying “I thought ‘are you posing for me?’”

“The concerning feature is his preparedness to commit such a gross abuse of trust in a matter that was so averted, so brazen.

“He sought out the complainant’s presence.”

Appearing without legal representation, the man, originally from Brisbane pleaded guilty to one count of indecent treatment of a child under 16.

He told the court he was subject to abuse growing up and recalled having been neglected by his foster parents growing up and never being told “he was loved”.

“I don’t remember receiving gifts on birthdays. I remember watching the children of the house receiving money for tuck shops and stuff like that. I never got that,” he said.

It wasn’t until a local pastor, who was present in the courtroom, helped him get over drug addiction and led him to meeting his now ex-wife and her children, the court heard.

“I struggled at times with the trials of life but the addictions with dependency, God took them out of my life,” he said.

He later told the court that while Judge Burnett’s decision would be “trusted by God”, rehabilitation wouldn’t be an issue because “God had set me free”.

“I struggled with thoughts, I think it’s something that has come through my childhood, it was passed down to me but it’s my issue regardless,” he said.

“My testimony is that God set me free, I don’t have desires for those things anymore.”

Despite this, Judge Burnett referred him to the sex offenders' program and any other course that would be suggested by the program.

“It is a horrific form of offending, and it scars those children for life,” he said.

He was sentenced to one month imprisonment followed by a 12-month probation period and will be a registered sex offender.

Originally published as Mackay tradie sentenced for indecent treatment of 12yo niece